[Summary] The aim of this study was to detect the levels of serum miR-130b expression in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to analyze their correlation with diabetic renal damage. 243 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were divided into three groups according to urinary albumin/creatinine ratio ( UACR ): normoalbuminuria group (UACR<30 mg/g, n=103), microalbuminuria group (UACR 30-300 mg/g, n=86), and macroalbuminuria group(UACR>300 mg/g, n=54). The levels of serum miR-130b were validated by realtime polymerase chain reaction. Serum transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) in all patients and 59 healthy volunteers. Compared with control group, the level of serum miR-130b in the type 2 diabetes mellitus group were significantly decreased, gradually with the increases of UACR. The level of serum miR-130b was inversely correlated with blood urea nitrogen ( r=-0. 295, P<0.05), serum creatinine(r=-0. 316, P<0. 05), UACR(r=-0. 463, P<0. 05), but positively related to the estimated glomerular filtration rate(r=0. 367, P<0. 01). The level of serum miR-130b was also negatively correlated to homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, TNF-α, and TGF-β1 (r=-0. 257,-0. 345,-0. 242,-0. 562,-0. 622, all P<0. 01). The present study indicates that serum miR-130b might be a potential new biomarker for early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy. Serum miR-130b might be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy.

Objective To explore the roles of MircroRNA-217 ( Mir-217 ) , silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1), and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α)in high glucose-induced inflammation and fibrosis in rat glomerular mesangial cells( RMCs) . Methods RMCs were pre-incubated with a Sirt1 activator resveratrol prior to high glucose treatment or transfected with Sirt1 small interfering RNA( siRNA) , HIF-1αsiRNA, and Mir-217 inhibitor. Real-time PCR was used to analyze the expressions of Mir-217, Sirt1 mRNA, and HIF-1α mRNA; Western blot was used to observe the protein expressions of Sirt1, HIF-1α, connective tissue growth factor(CTGF), endothelin-1(ET-1), and fibronectin( FN) . Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was applied to detect protein expression of transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF). Results High glucose increased Mir-217, HIF-1α, CTGF, ET-1, FN, TGF-β1, and VEGF expressions(all P<0. 01), while decreased Sirt1 expression. In addition, Mir-217 gene silencing or 25μmol/L resveratrol suppressed high glucose-stimulated expressions of HIF-1α, CTGF, endothelin-1, FN, TGF-β1, and VEGF(all P<0. 01). Conclusion Mir-217 mediates high glucose-induced inflammation and fibrosis in RMCs via Sirt1/HIF-1αsignal pathway. This study provides new evidence to clarify the protective mechanisms of Sirt1 in diabetic nephropathy.

Objective To examine whether alpha lipoic acid (LA) regulates high glucose-induced mesangial cell proliferation via mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling.Methods The cell proliferation and cycle were determined by methylthiazoletetrazolium(MTT) assay and flow cytometry,respectively.The mRNA expression of AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK) was detected by realtime PCR.The phosphorylation levels of protein kinase B (Akt),mTOR,eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 (4EBP1),and 70S6 kinase (p70S6K) were measured by Western blot.Results 0.25 mmol/L LA promoted high glucose-sitmulated rat mesangial cell proliferation(P＜0.01) and entry of cell cycle into S phase(P＜0.01),along with increased phosphorylation levels of Akt,mTOR,p70S6K,and 4EBP1 (P＜0.05).These effects of 0.25 mmol/L LA disappeared when Akt activity was inhibited.On the contrary,1.0 mmol/L LA inhibited high glucose-induced cell proliferation(P＜0.01) and entry of cell cycle into S phase(P＜0.01),with the decreased phosphorylation levels of mTOR,p70S6K,and 4EBP1 (P＜ 0.05) and the enhanced activity of AMPK(P＜0.01).These effects of 1.0 mmol/L LA were prevented when AMPK activity was inhibited.Conclusions LA dose-dependently regulates mesangial cell proliferation induced by glucose via mTOR signaling pathway.

Objective To explore the changes in expression of Klotho, an aging-suppression protein, and neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin ( NGAL) and their relationship with rat mesangial cells ( RMCs) cultured with high glucose in vitro, and to explore the role played by Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) / nuclear factor-kB(NF-kB) p65 pathways in this process. Methods Three NGAL-siRNA sequences were designed and synthesized. The effective sequence in subsequent experiments was chosen. RMCs were preincubated with pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC)or exogenously added Klotho prior to high glucose treatment. Realtime PCR was used to analyze Klotho, TLR4, NGAL mRNA expressions. Western blot was used to observe Klotho, TLR4,NF-kB p65, NGAL,fibronectin (FN), and connective tissue growth factor ( CTGF) protein expression. ELISA assay was used to detect monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 ( MCP-1) and CXCL5 secretions. Results High glucose suppressed Klotho expression significantly(P<0. 05) and activated TLR4 / NF-kB p65 pathway. Meanwhile,the levels of NGAL,FN,CTGF, MCP-1, and CXCL5 were highly expressed ( P < 0. 01). NGAL gene silencing obviously down-regulated the increased expressions of FN, CTGF, MCP-1, and CXCL5 ( P < 0. 01). After PDTC treatment the overexpression of NGAL protein was markedly lowered(P<0. 01). In addition, Klotho treatment significantly inhibited the activity of TLR4 /NF-kB p65 pathways and down-regulated the expressions of NGAL, FN, CTGF, MCP-1 and CXCL5 stimulated by high glucose(P<0. 01). Conclusion Klotho inhibits the activity of TLR4 / NF-kB p65 pathways and thus inhibits NGAL expression in RMCs cultured with high glucose in vitro. And then it suppresses the expressions of FN, CTGF, MCP-1, and CXCL5. This provides a new basis to illustrate the protection mechanism of the anti-aging protein Klotho in diabetic nephropathy, and may provide new ideas and therapeutic targets for prevention and treatment.

Objective To explore the associations of serum Mir-217 with silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1)and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α)in type 2 diabetic patients with different urinary albumin excretion rates. Methods A total of 479 patients with type 2 diabetes were divided into normoalbuminuric(D1, n=181), microalbuminuric(D2, n=165), and macroalbuminuric(D3, n=133)subgroups. 192 normal subjects served as control group. Serum level of Mir-217 was detected by realtime PCR. Serum Sirt1, HIF-1α, and vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF ) levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Compared with control subjects, serum Mir-217 level was significantly increased in type 2 diabetic patients and gradually increased in D1, D2, and D3 groups(P<0. 01). The parameters of age, diabetes duration, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistant index(HOMA-IR), HbA1C, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol( LDL-C) , total cholesterol ( TC ) , triglyceride ( TG ) , serum uric acid ( SUA ) , blood urea nitrogen(BUN), HIF-1α, VEGF, and Mir-217 all were positively correlated with ACR(all P<0. 05). High density lipoprotein-cholesterol(HDL-C)and Sirt1 were negatively correlated with ACR(both P<0. 05). VEGF, HIF-1α, Mir-217, BUN, diabetes duration, LDL-C, Sirt1, and SUA were independent factors that influenced ACR(all P<0. 01). Additionally, diabetes duration, HOMA-IR, HbA1C, ACR, LDL-C, TC, TG, SUA, BUN, HIF-1α, and VEGF were positively correlated with Mir-217(all P<0. 05), while Sirt1 was negatively correlated with Mir-217(P<0. 01). Conclusion Serum Mir-217, as a possible biomarker for early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy, may be involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy by promoting chronic inflammatory reaction, renal fibrosis, and angiogenesis.

Objective To investigate the expression levels of serum vasohibin-1(VASH-1)in type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)patients at different stages of urinary albumin to creatinineratio(UACR)and to attempt to investigate the relationship between VASH-1 and inflammation and fibrosis in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy(DN), one of the microvascular complications of T2DM. Methods 486 patients with T2DMwere divided into four groups:normal albuminuria [ UACR<30 mg/ g, n = 134], microalbuminuria [ UACR at 30-300 mg/ g, n = 122], clinical albuminuria [UACR > 300 mg/ g, n = 106 ], and clinical albuminuria hypertensive [ UACR > 300 mg/ g, with hypertension, n=124] groups. Age, course, serum levels ofVASH1, inflammation markers(CRP, ESR)and fibrosis marker( TGF-β1) with other biochemical indicators were measured, and 130 normal control subjects were also included. Results Compared with normal control group, the levels of UACR, HbA1C ,ESR, CRP, TGF-β1 and VASH-1 in groups ofnormal albuminuria, microalbuminuria, clinical albuminuria, and clinical albuminuria hypertensive were significantly higher(P<0. 05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that levels of VASH-1 were positively correlated with UACR, HbA1C ,ESR, CRPand TGF-β1( r = 0. 521, 0. 261, 0. 519, 0. 523, 0. 479, P<0. 001), while multivariate regression analysis showed that levels of UACR, HbA1C ,ESR, CRP and TGF-β1 were important factors affecting serum VASH-1 levels. Conclusion Serum levels of VASH-1 may become new biomarkers of early diagnosis of DN. Consequently, VASH-1 level may provide a new pattern and direction of inflammation and fibrosis for consideration in diabetic kidney damage.

Allergic diseases such as allergic asthma, allergic der-matitis, allergic rhinitis, are polygenic diseases, involving the interaction between the environment, genes and immunity. In the past few decades, the incidence rate of allergic diseases in-creased predominantly and influenced the quality of people's lives seriously, so looking for new targets for the prevention and treat-ment of allergic diseases and drugs with less adverse reaction be-comes a hot topic for researchers. MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are a class of endogenous non-coding small RNAs that mediate nega-tively posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression by targe-ting specific mRNA sequences to inhibit the translation of mR-NAs. They are widely involved in the biological processes of cell differentiation, immune response and tumor development. The study shows that miRNAs can control the occurrence and devel-opment of allergic diseases. Studying the regulatory role of miR-NAs in allergic diseases has important implications for exploring the immunopathological mechanisms and discovering new thera-peutic targets of drugs.

Objective To investigate the role of preoperative peripheral blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR),platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR),prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in the prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical operation.Methods This is a retrospective study,involving 426 surgically resected hepatitis B related hepatocellular carcinoma cases in a single center from 2003 to 2012.Results Kaplan-Meier analysis showed patients in NLR ≤ 1.62 group achieve higher rate of recurrence-free and overall survival than that in the NLR ＞ 1.62 group,the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.005);Also PNI ＞ 49.42 group showed higher rate of overall survival significantly than PNI≤49.42 group (P ＜ 0.005).The results of Cox regression multivariate analysis further suggested that both NLR ＞ 1.62 (HR 1.74,P =0.007) and PNI ≤49.42 (HR 0.70,P =0.021) were independent risk factors for overall survival,NLR ＞ 1.62 (HR 1.45,P =0.03) was also an independent risk factor for recurrence-free survival.Conclusion The preoperative NLR and PNI may be independent risk factors for prognosis of patients with HBV-related HCC after radical operation.

Bronchial asthma is a kind of respiratory disease which affects people 's life quality seriously. Many factors in-volved in the occurrence and development of such disease, of which the aberrant expression of E-cad plays a critical role in it. Research found that E-cad is an important cell adhesion molecu-lar, and its main function is to maintain the structural integrity of cells and participate in the improvement of airway remodeling as well as restoration of immune function. Further study showed that the role of mucosal barrier of airway epithelial cells in bronchial asthma patients was often damaged. Moreover, the protein ex-pression of E-cad decreased significantly in mucosal molecular, which suggested that the abnormal expression of E-cad was in-volved in the development of bronchial asthma. A review on the relations between the abnormal expression of E-cad protein and bronchial asthma has been discussed in this paper, also it in-cludes the discussion about the mechanisms of E-cad’ s disorder-induced bronchial asthma as well as explores the strategies of bronchial asthma treatment, which may provide references for the follow-up research and clinical treatment.

Objective:To observe the effects of 0.01% atropine eye drops on ocular biometrics in myopic adolescents.Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted.Two hundred and nineteen myopic adolescents who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from June 2016 to June 2017 and completed the 1-year follow-up on time were enrolled.The 219 adolescents were divided into a 0.01% atropine+ single-vision spectacles (SV) group (119 cases) wearing single-vision spectacles with one drop of atropine eye drop applied to both eyes once nightly, and a simple SV group (100 cases) wearing SV only.Axial length (AL), corneal power and anterior chamber depth were measured with the IOLMaster.Lens power was calculated using the Bennett-Rabbetts formula.Intraocular pressure was measured by non-contact tonometry.Spherical equivalent (SE) was examined by cycloplegic autorefraction.Total astigmatism and corneal astigmatism were calculated by vector decomposition.The right eye data were analyzed to compare the ocular biometrics changes between the two groups, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (No.2016-35). Written informed consent was obtained from guardians before any medical examination.Results:The SE change and AL elongation 12 months after treatment in 0.01% atropine+ SV group were (-0.47±0.45) D and (0.37±0.22) mm, respectively, which were significantly lower than (-0.70±0.60)D and (0.46±0.35)mm in simple SV group ( t=5.523, 9.651; both at P<0.001). There were significant differences in SE and AL between before and after treatment in both groups (SE: Fgroup=1.556, P=0.015; Ftime=12.538, P=0.002; AL: Fgroup=3.425, P=0.021; Ftime=18.235, P=0.008). The SE and AL at 4, 8 and 12 months after treatment were all increased in comparison with before treatment in both groups, showing statistically significant differences (all at P<0.001). The SE and AL at 8 and 12 months after treatment in 0.01% atropine+ SV group were smaller than in simple SV group, and the differences were statistically significant (all at P<0.001). At 8 and 12 months after treatment, total astigmatism and the anterior chamber depth were increased and the lens power was decreased in comparison with before treatment in both groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all at P<0.05). There was no significant difference in corneal astigmatism, corneal power and intraocular pressure at different time points before and after treatment between the two groups (all at P>0.05). In the multiple linear regression analysis, an equation of Δmyopic SE=-0.012-2.685×ΔAL-1.002×Δcorneal astigmatism-0.656×Δlens power+ 0.477×Δtotal astigmatism+ 0.363×Δanterior chamber depth-0.060×age+ 0.011×sex was used, showing the change of SE was mainly caused by the change of AL ( β=-2.685), then corneal power, lens power, total astigmatism and anterior chamber depth. Conclusions:In adolescents, 0.01% atropine eye drops can effectively retard myopia progression and axial elongation, showing no effect on astigmatism, corneal power, lens power, anterior chamber depth and intraocular pressure.The controlling effect of 0.01% atropine eye drops in the development of myopia is mainly achieved by reducing axial elongation.